My Immortal
by Catalina Storm
Summary: Fifteen years after a betrayal severed bonds of friendship, Kagome lays dying with an unknown malady. It is up to Kage to find out what is wrong with his mother, but the answers lie in the Sengoku Jidai ...
1. Down the Well

1.  
  
The night air was cooler than she expected. Higurashi Kagome pushed open the door and walked on to the porch. She was as quiet as she could be, shutting the door behind her and cinching her robe tight. She could see the streetlights faintly reflected off of glass, but it was still the darkness that attracted her. A full moon hung low in the sky, scant clouds darting quickly across its face. She tilted her face up to the sky and stared at the stars.  
  
She had the dream again. It had been a long time since she dreamt of those horrible few days that had ended with her being banished back to the present time and the well being destroyed. Time had yet to heal the wound in her heart, and often she wondered if it would ever heal properly.  
  
It did her no good to wonder anymore. It just opened more wounds. Farewells she never got to say lingered in her memories, and a heavy guilt made her shoulders sag. Kagome sat heavily on the steps, feeling short of breath. Suddenly being silent didn't matter any more, it was more of a labor to keep breathing.  
  
A cool breeze pushed sweat across her neck, and she wondered idly how it had gotten so warm outside. She rested her head against the banister and stared at the grass, watching as the black-green lightened considerably as lights came on behind her. "Mom?"  
  
"Kagome? Where are you?" No, that wasn't her mother. What was she thinking, her mother had passed away two years ago this spring. The voice belonged to Sota, her younger brother and the keeper of the shrine. "Kagome?"  
  
Why couldn't she answer him? Kagome swallowed, but couldn't summon the words to tell him she was on the porch. She was fine ... so why couldn't she say that? Instead, she closed her eyes, tears beginning to burn traces across her cheeks. It had been her fault, she was sure of it. If only she had treated him better, if only she could have seen everything coming ... then maybe all of her friends would be alive today. Maybe they would all be happily celebrating some anniversary or another, picnicking under the sakura like any other extended family.  
  
Maybe.  
  
The heat and the pain overwhelmed her all at once, and Kagome was glad for the porch railing that now supported her.   
  
She had tried so many times to go back. The hole where the well had once been however had become nothing more than an open sore in the ground, a grave begging to be filled. Sota had promised her that this summer they'd bring in fresh sod and close it up forever, perhaps planting one of the seedlings of the dying god-tree in its maw. Perhaps it would bring her some closure, although she knew it was a false hope. She would always be reminded of what could have been simply by looking into the face of her son.  
  
Kage was a bright boy, quick on his feet and equally quick with his mind. He did have a bad attitude and temper, but Kagome could not determine if that was inherited or an inherent trait of being a teenager. As much as Kagome loved him, though, it often brought her pain to see him. She tried to mask it, but she knew he was beginning to pick up on it, and that hurt even more.  
  
Maybe if he didn't look so much like Inuyasha, it wouldn't hurt as much. The boy had the same facial structure, though, and his hair tended to fall in the same way, although Kagome would not let him grow it out. However, the thing that was the worst for everyone, not just her, were his ears. Although Kage had a lot of Inuyasha's features, the only true demon-characteristic he inherited was his dog-ears. The eyes were dismissed as cosmetic contacts, and his fangs completely ignored. However, it was next to impossible to explain the dog ears almost lost in his rich black hair, so Kagome had instilled into the boy from an early age that he should always keep them covered by a hat of some sort. This was the one thing that Kage had never fought her on.  
  
However, around the shrine he tended to not even bother with the hat, never mind his school uniform. Sota was instructing a class on kendo and Kage was very keen to take part in it. He kept his ears wrapped up in the towel that went under the helmet so not to raise any eyebrows, but he had taken up wearing his hakama and short-sleeved dogi whenever not in his school uniform, and it was very disconcerting for Kagome. While it was not as red or ... well, poofy as Inuyasha's outfit, it still would surprise her when he appeared out of nowhere.  
  
Kagome smiled slightly to herself. She had only once described Inuyasha's pants as "poofy" and his expression had been priceless. As abruptly as the memory brought her a smile, it also brought tears to her eyes.   
  
How could he have ever betrayed them like that?  
  
"There you are, Kagome." Sota stood in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe. "Why didn't you answer me?"  
  
"I... don't know." Kagome drew her knees to her chest. The heat was receding and her thoughts cleared further. She wondered if she should worry about the heat, about the dizziness and faintness. She thought about mentioning it to Sota, but thought better of it almost immediately. If she did that he'd banish her to bed immediately and doctor to her. She didn't want him to be put out of his way for her, she and Kage were already living in his home. "I've been ... thinking."  
  
"You've been dwelling on the past again, is what you've been doing." Sota came out and sat on the step beside her. "I can always tell."  
  
Kagome glanced at him. He was so much bigger than she was ... it still seemed like yesterday that she could pick him up with no problems. She wondered if she should respond, or even if she could respond. Instead, she simply put her head on his shoulder and cried.  
  
***  
  
Higurashi Kageyasha stared at the ceiling over his bed, his head pillowed in his arms. The ceiling had plenty of cracks in it, but other than that was wholly uninteresting.  
  
Wan sunlight filtered through the blinds and cast patterns over the carpet. He rolled over on to his side and watched some dust motes in the sunlight, ears twitching slightly. The doctor was leaving, he could identify the footsteps on the stairs. He sat up then, glancing through the blinds. He watched his uncle Sota converse with the man, then shake his free hand brusquely. Kage sighed and let the blinds snap back to the original shape.  
  
His mother was getting worse, despite her denials. He wasn't sure if it was a mental or a physical sickness, but it was taking its toll heavily on her. They had relocated three months ago from the small apartment in Kyoto that Kage had grown up in to this old shrine in Tokyo. It wasn't as if he had never been to the shrine before ... he had been to his grandmother's a lot, but when she died two years ago they had stopped coming. Then, when his mother started to become ill and lost her job, Sota offered them a home in the shrine. Kage wasn't too happy with the move but wouldn't complain ... his main issue was leaving all of his friends and his familiar high school. His friends in Kyoto were completely comfortable with who ... and what he was. They had gone through grade school together and were about to enter high school when all of this happened. Now Kage attended a school where he didn't know anyone, and no one seemed interested in getting to know him.   
  
"Their problem," he muttered, picking up an airplane he had crafted from paper fished from the trashcan. He watched the paper glide lazily around the room until it hit a wall. The nose crumpled on contact, then it fell disgracefully to the floor.  
  
Disgusted, Kage sat up. He grabbed his current favorite hate, a dark green baseball cap and pulled in on backwards before padding down the hallway quietly. His mother's door was open a crack and he paused there, but Kagome wasn't awake. She lay under the sheets, her skin sallow against the pillow and her bangs clinging to her head with sweat.   
  
Now angry, Kage flew down the steps. His uncle was in the kitchen, preparing some food on a tray in the vain hope that he could get his older sister to eat something. "Where are you off to?" he asked automatically as Kage flew through.  
  
"None of your business," Kage growled, although he wasn't planning on go further than the shrine.  
  
"It is my business for as long as your mother is incapacitated," Sota said calmly, slicing a radish.  
  
"'Incapacitated.'" Kage snorted. "Another word for deathly ill, I'm sure. Why won't you just be straight with me, huh?"  
  
Sota put down the knife but didn't look at Kage. "You want me to be straight with you? All right. Your mother is dying, and we don't know why and there isn't a damned thing we can do to stop it!"  
  
Kage felt his face drain of all color. He had not been serious about the deathly ill thing ... he knew his mother was sick but he had not stopped to consider how sick. Without a word, he turned and fled out the door.  
  
Sota immediately realized his mistake. "Kage! Dammit, wait a minute!" However, by the time he had gotten out the door the hanyou was long gone. Sota stood in the door, angry with himself. "God dammit," he snarled, punching the doorframe so hard he bloodied his fist. "Damn it all..."  
  
***  
  
Kage was up the god-tree faster than he thought possible. He had always been proud of the fact that he could climb the tree ... although his hands and feet didn't look it they were really great for climbing things. He sat on the lowest branch, which was still a good twenty feet off the ground. He didn't sit so much as he did perch, it was easier to clutch the branch when he perched.  
  
He was breathing hard, and he couldn't figure out why. Kage had never even stopped to consider how sick his mother really was. It was just something he had gotten used to, and he wasn't sure why. All these mixed up things swirled through his head, emotions jumbled together like they had been run through a cement mixer. What would he do without her? The thought was too hideous to even comprehend.   
  
Kage watched Sota pace past the tree, obviously in search of him. To apologize, perhaps, but what good would it do him? How could he have been so blind as to never even think of this?  
  
How could the doctors not know what her sickness was? In this day and age of technology, for something to go undiagnosed was beyond bizarre. It was wrong, so wrong. "Why can't I just get away from this?" Kage wondered bitterly.  
  
Sota was gone now, and Kage hardly felt like moving but he did so. He started to shift when the building he had been forbidden to ever go near caught his eye. Like the rest of the shrine, it was kept in pristine condition, but the door was boarded shut. That wasn't particularly what caught his eye. What caught his eye was that the space around the frame was glowing with a soft rose light.  
  
Kage leapt down from the tree, managing to land lightly and without injuring himself. He trotted over to the door and stared at the way the light filtered through the door frame. The rose light was fascinating, and for the first time curiosity overwhelmed the warnings that had been drilled into his skull by various adults. It was simple for Kage to break through to old boards, and as he ripped each board off the door, the rose light seemed to grow more intense. He pried off the last board, throwing it to the side, then shoved the old door open.  
  
The dust and grime of years made Kage cough, and when he opened his eyes the rose light had vanished. All that remained was the darkened interior of a once well-used shrine. In the center, in a sunken pit, the pitiful remains of a smashed well caught his eye. A very, very faint rose glow was coming from the remains.  
  
"What on earth..." Kage leapt down the stairs, sniffing the air. He could smell the sweet scent of a forest, which was impossible. It was the tang of a forest late in summer, abuzz with humidity and insects and the general laziness that summer brings. It was only early spring! His nose must be deceiving him...  
  
The only problem was, his nose had never led him wrong before. Kage leaned over one crumbled edge of the well, and to his surprise saw a faint rose glow at one end. It highlighted the bottom of the well, which was only eight or nine feet down. Deciding that, since he was already breaking about every rule his mother had ever set, Kage leapt down into the well.  
  
What happened next was not expected in the slightest.  
  
He didn't hit the bottom like he expected to. Instead of the split second it should have taken him to drop eight feet, he seemed to float for about thirty seconds, before lightly landing on hard-packed earth. Kage stared at the earth between his fingers, and then got up on two legs. It was dark in the bottom of the well, but sunlight left a few scant patterns on the dirt. However, there was a dense collection of roots and foliage now blocking his path out of the well.  
  
Suddenly in the moment, Kage leapt and grabbed a hold of the closest root, pulling himself through gaps that he never thought he'd fit through. Fighting his way up took longer than he thought, but as he neared the top it seemed that more and more of the roots were receding when he touched them. How bizarre was that?  
  
Finally, Kageyasha hoisted himself out of the old, abandoned well ... and into the middle of a lush forest. "Well," Kage said dryly to himself. "I guess this is a start..."  
  
A/N: ANd the bored author strikes again! Bwhaha... 


	2. Mysterious Miko

2.  
  
He was thoroughly lost.   
  
Kageyasha collapsed beside the old well and stared at the dense foliage around him. He could see from where he sat some of the paths he had taken that had led him around for hours upon end, only to deposit him right back where he started.   
  
"This is ridiculous!" Kage growled, picking up a stone and throwing it at one of the paths. His stomach growled in response, and Kage winced.   
  
It was a stupid idea to investigate what his mother had told him was off-limits ... obviously there was a good reason for that. "Where am I?" Kage muttered out loud, not really caring if he got an answer or not.   
  
Early spring temperatures had been replaced by late summer, and the sun beat down through the trees. An insect buzzed and birds chirped merrily. It didn't do Kage any good, though, except make him regret running off. "Damn it," he snorted, forcing himself to stand up once more. "There's not much to be done except investigate where I'm at." He glanced over his shoulder at the old well, then shrugged at it. Foliage and trees curled around it, almost swallowing the thing whole.   
  
Choosing a path going the opposite way than he had been heading previously, Kage tucked his arms behind him and ran. It was his quickest way of moving around, aside from the leap/running thing he had been working on. He had yet to figure out why the laws of gravity didn't always affect him, but it made for some nice travel time.   
  
Suddenly, something caught his eye and he turned to glance at it, which, when moving at his current speed, was a mistake. Kage slammed into a tree when the trail took an abrupt left.   
  
Kage picked up his baseball cap from where it had been knocked off of his head and tugged it on, carefully covering his ears. Then he took a look at what had caught his attention.   
  
The god-tree!   
  
Kage ran towards it, relief on his face. Even though he was completely lost and still wasn't quite sure where he was, the god-tree was a welcome sight. It looked almost exactly the same as it did back home, except slightly fuller and not as dead looking. Maybe because it was surrounded on all sides by a healthy forest as opposed to being isolated at a shrine? Kage didn't know and didn't care, it was something familiar in a world gone insane.   
  
Then he froze. Kage had just picked up an unfamiliar scent, meaning he was not alone. Instead of the headlong rush towards the tree, he hung back in the shadow of another tree and watched carefully.   
  
A woman was seated at the base of the tree, wearing the traditional red hakama and white kimono of a miko. Her long black hair was tied back, although some strands fell loose and over her shoulders. She was petting something in her lap, a cat of some sort he thought. "Great, natives," Kage said to himself. Maybe she could give him directions back to Tokyo ... or reality. "...Excuse me?"   
  
The woman's head shot up and swiveled around, as Kage stood. He noticed as she got up that a long scar disfigured the left side of her face, and he was pretty sure by the off-balance way that she stood that there was something wrong with her left side ... or maybe just her arm. "Hey, now, don't run," Kage soothed, stepping out of the bushes. "I'm kind of lost, and I--"   
  
"Kirara!" the woman snapped, and the cat she had been petting leapt forward, abruptly changing into a very large, very-possessed looking feline.   
  
"Holy crap!" Kage jumped backwards as the woman leapt on the cat's back with an ease that spoke of years together. Then they were off, while Kage recovered. "Oh no you don't," Kage snarled under his breath, recovering his feet and his courage. Then he was chasing after them.   
  
The cat-demon was quick, he noticed, but he wasn't exactly slow either. Years of racing along fences, rooftops and other various things so not to attract attention served him here as he leapt up into the trees. Keeping up with the cat-demon was easier when they were both in the air.   
  
"Faster, Kirara!" the woman encouraged, throwing venomous glances back at Kage. "Don't let him catch us!"   
  
'Don't let him catch us?' Kage made a face. This was beginning to get irritating! Kage put on a burst of speed and pulled even with the woman and her cat-demon. "Listen, lady, I don't know what your problem is," he huffed. "But I'm lost, and hungry too, so if you don't -- uff!"   
  
Ignoring the branches in front of him was rather treacherous. Kage slammed into a very thick branch that was right at the level of his gut and managed to knock the wind out of himself rather painfully. Instead of falling to the forest floor, which would hurt more, he clung to the offending branch and watched the woman and her cat-demon disappear off. "Well that," he whuffled as breath slowly returned to him, "was really rude!"   
  
***   
  
It was beginning to get dark out side. Sota stood at street level outside the shrine. He had been almost three blocks in every direction, and hadn't seen hide or hair of Kage. The boy was, if anything, loyal, and doubtful he had strayed far from the shrine. "I swear," Sota said softly, starting up the stairs, "if I find him in his room..."   
  
He paused beside the old god-tree. The tree had lost so many of its leaves ... the ancient tree was dying, slowly but surely, as if being eaten alive by some mysterious disease.   
  
Kind of like Kagome.   
  
Sota banished the thought almost instantly. The doctor was wrong, he had to be. There were no such things as unknown diseases! The man had said that he had done all that was possible, it was up to Kagome now, to either continue to struggle against the disease to succumb to it.   
  
Something caught Sota's eye as he stood by the tree. Almost as an afterthought, he walked over towards the old well house. It was doubtful Kage had even gone near there, he had been firmly told ever since he was young to steer clear of it.   
  
Halfway towards the well house Sota began to run.   
  
The door had been left open, and old, half-rotted boards lay strewn around it, pried off by stronger hands than his. Sota didn't pause, taking the interior steps in a stride and stalking all the way over to the remains of the well.   
  
It was empty. That was when Sota began to get a horrible, sinking feeling in his stomach. "Oh, shit..."   
  
How was he going to explain this to Kagome?   
  
***   
  
It wasn't as hard as Kage thought to follow the woman and her pet-demon, the cat gave off a very particular smell. Almost as if it wanted him to follow them, which made Kage wonder about it. He was in a strange land, if cat-demons were the steeds of mikos!   
  
He hopped casually from branch to branch, pondering this new development. The only links he had to the shrine were the god-tree and the well, that had to mean something ... but what? Abruptly, he ran out of suitable trees to hop through and descended to the ground, now ambling along.   
  
Maybe he should turn around now, return to the well, and try to figure out how to get home. Maybe if he went straight back through the well, he'd end up back where he started. However, that may require cleaning out the foliage and roots, so until he had the tools to do so he may as well stick it out and find out where... if not when, he was at.   
  
An arrow zapped past Kage's cheek, and he froze. "What the-!"   
  
"Not another step, hanyou!"   
  
Kage didn't move at all, but glanced up to see that the woman had gathered a crew of terrified farmers and a woman who had to be three times her age. The old woman was the one who fired the arrow, for she was the only one with a bow. She must be remarkable sharp for her age, then, he must be careful.   
  
"'Hanyou,'" he repeated. How had they known? He checked, he was still wearing his baseball hat, so that certainly didn't give it away. "What crime have I committed?"   
  
"Inuyasha!" The woman he had chased took a step forward, a giant boomerang held by her right hand. "How dare you show your face to us again!"   
  
Inu...yasha?   
  
"You have me mistaken for someone else," he said, trying to edge out of range of some of the more violence-happy looking farmers. "My name is Kageyasha, and I've certainly never been here before!"   
  
"Don't lie to us," the woman said, hoisting the boomerang threateningly.   
  
"No, no, you're definitely mistaken," Kage said, realizing just what a stupid idea this had been. 'I should have gone right back when I had the chance,' he thought. "My name is Higurashi Kageyasha and I am from Tokyo! I don't know where I'm at, I don't know who you are and I certainly don't know any Inuyashas!"   
  
The old woman took in a sharp breath. She let slack fall in her bow at the same time. "Higurashi? As in Higurashi Kagome?"   
  
The woman with the boomerang glanced at the older woman. "You can't be serious! You believe him?"   
  
The cat-demon bounded past her, and it was all Kage could do to not turn around and high tail it back to the well as it circled him once, sniffing. Then, abruptly, it shrank in size to something that could only be described as "horrifically cute" and scampered up his hakama.   
  
"AHH!" Kage couldn't restrain himself. He jumped a mile, the thing leapt clear and landed neatly on his head. Kage, however, landed quite indignantly on his rump.   
  
Several of the farmers snickered at that, as the cat-thing started to purr. "It seems," the old woman said, smiling gently, "that Kirara agrees with me."   
  
The dark expression that the younger woman had obviously was not a good sign. "I, however, do not." That stated, she swiveled on her heel and stalked off into the village.   
  
"Go on, get on with ye," the old woman shooed off the farmers. "This one most certainly is not Inuyasha, go back to your farming."   
  
Kage, still seated on the ground with a purring cat-demon on his head, watched all of this with a wide-eyed expression that could best be described as a "rabbit in the headlights". "What... huh?"   
  
"Come, child." The woman used her bow as a cane as she walked up to him. "Kageyasha, you call yourself?"   
  
"Kage's fine," he said, shaken. "Who are you? What just happened?"   
  
"Kage, then. I am Kaede, the priestess of this small village. And I do believe that you and I have much to discuss, Higurashi Kageyasha."   
  
A/N 2: Argh. I swear to good god I updated this last night, around midnight. Now, I know the site says 24 hours, but no one else has been able to see this chapter and I've never had it not show up for so long. So I"m trying to upload it again. If it shows up twice or something, I'll deal with it later. *growls* At least chapter 3 is almost done... perhaps it'll even be up even later tonight... cross those claws, kiddies...   
  
A/N: So, another chapter, even more mysteries uncovered and things are just getting started! Whee!   
  
I apologize for the shortness of the chapters, but in order for me to keep up with it, if I try to do long, involved chapters I loose interest. I'm shallow that way.   
  
Also, people interested in what Kage looks like can check him out @ www.deviantart.com/view/2188825 . Hopefully that showed up, unfortunately in previous author's notes the urls have died. Seeya next time!  
  



	3. Fragments

3.  
  
"Okay, okay, okay. Let me get this straight." Kageyasha had his head in his hands, trying to assimilate all of this information and failing. "When my mother was my age, she would travel back and forth between times in search of some sort of jewel. There was a dog-demon who tagged along with her named Inuyasha, and they spent most of their free time either collecting shards of this jewel, or battling some psycho-demon."   
  
"That is correct," Kaede said calmly, taking a sip of her tea.   
  
Kage blinked once, staring at the floorboards of Kaede's simple hut. If anyone had told him that this time yesterday, he would have laughed them out of Tokyo. Here, though, it was a little easier to believe. "So, you think that it's this jewel, which was never completely returned to its original state, that is making my mother sick?"   
  
"It is a possibility," Kaede admitted. "Although I have yet to figure out how that would affect her so negatively."   
  
"Well, there's a simple way to fix that," Kage said reasonably. "Find the bastard who has the majority of it, beat some sense into him and then dig up the remaining pieces of it."   
  
Kaede and the other woman, whom Kaede had identified as Sango, glanced at each other sharply. "I ... do not know if that's such a good idea," Kaede started to say. "The one who holds the jewel right now is very powerful, and very dangerous."   
  
"I think the kid's got the right idea," Sango said enthusiastically, for the first time not glaring at Kage. She rose out of her kneeling position smoothly "We can finally put that smug son of a bitch in his place!"   
  
"Regardless of what happens next, Sango, I do not think you should go into battle," Kaede said gently, refocusing her attention on the younger woman.   
  
The word 'battle' made Kage rather nervous. He was hoping to sneak around a lot, filch the jewel and get back without this demon ever realizing his presence. Obviously, that wasn't an option then. He didn't know the first thing about fighting unless you count the couple street fights he had gotten into since high school started, and he had never counted those previously because the only reason he escaped unharmed was the obvious strength difference.   
  
Sango seated herself again, the old woman's caution not putting a damper on her spirit. "I have no doubt," Sango said, "that the young one can take care of it himself, but I can still be backup here in the village."   
  
Kaede couldn't help but smile at the younger woman's excitement. It had been a long, long time since she had looked that way ... it was terribly sad that the only thing that brought out that side of her was the promise of retribution. "I still do not know that it's a good idea to send such a young one into the maw of that beast," she said. "Especially one who doesn't know his way around here. I am far too old to show you the way, and Sango cannot leave this village."   
  
"Why not?" Kage couldn't help but ask. Sango shifted slightly, pulling back the sleeve of her left arm. But there was only sleeve, the arm had been severed cleanly at the shoulder. "Oh," Kage's voice was small.   
  
"If you can deal some damage on the bastard who did this to me, I would much appreciate it," Sango said.   
  
"So who is this demon that you fear and hate so much?" he asked, glancing back and forth from Sango to Kaede.   
  
Kaede closed her eyes, a pained expression crossing her face. "Inuyasha," she said softly.   
  
***   
  
Kage munched on a fruit that one of the kind farmers had given him as he perched in a tree on the outskirts of the village. Well, this *was* a predicament he was in.   
  
So this Inuyasha guy had the jewel that everyone was going nuts over, so what? He didn't understand why this made such a big difference to everyone ... he sighed, biting into the fruit again.   
  
Sango and Kaede had decided that they weren't going to let him out of their sight until someone they knew could guide him around. Granted, he didn't know the area at all, but his nose had never led him wrong before. He didn't even know what sort of guide they were going to grab ... if it was some farmer or something he would be sorely displeased. That meant he'd have to not only take care of himself, but the guide as well!   
  
As Kage mulled over the events, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "What ... the heck is that thing?"   
  
A small pinkish bubble floated by. This wouldn't have disturbed Kage except it was solid pink, not translucent at all. He watched it go about its course, then vanish. Slightly intrigued, he finished off the fruit and stood lightly on the branch, peering around the tree where the bubble had floated off. There was nothing there.   
  
Disappointed, Kage turned to sit back down and nearly leapt out of the tree in surprise. He wasn't alone! Seated further out on the branch was a demon like himself, although this demon had short, pointed ears in the normal spot for humans. He had, however, a huge bushy tail and paws instead of feet. He was glaring at Kage with the same malice Sango had exuded earlier.   
  
"Who the heck are you?" he snapped at Kage, who was a little taken aback.   
  
"I would think that should be my question, you're the one on my branch," he pointed out reasonably. "What sort of demon are you, anyway?"   
  
That question certainly seemed to surprise him. "You've never seen a kitsune before?"   
  
"Nope. At least, where I come from demons don't wander around where they can be seen, if they even still exist at all." Kage shrugged. "I'm Kage."   
  
The kitsune seemed pacified. "So you're Kage, huh? My name is Shippo, I'm supposed to be your guide, then."   
  
Kage shifted nervously on the branch. "Great ... I think. Um ... stupid question?"   
  
Shippo blinked. "Huh?"   
  
"Did you hear something just crack?" Kage looked down, because suddenly the branch wasn't there anymore. The two demons tumbled down to the ground, surprised. Kage landed hard on his back, but Shippo landed in a seated position. "...never mind," Kage wheezed.   
  
"Not very good at this sort of thing, are you?" Shippo said rhetorically.   
  
"Not used to having to share my branch is probably more accurate," Kage grumbled without moving.   
  
"Kageyasha!" Sango shouted, trotting up the hill towards the tree. She had a basket on her arm and the cat-demon, which Kage had been informed, was Kirara, on her shoulder. She spotted the fox-demon and smiled widely. "Shippo! You're here already!"   
  
The kitsune, still seated, shrugged. "It's not like I do much of anything but float around and cause mischief," he said.   
  
Sango smiled, then turned to Kage, who was sitting up and rubbing his head, wincing at the impression he had left in the hillside. "I brought you some lunch," she said, thrusting the basket at him. "I only made enough for one," she added apologetically, glancing at Shippo.   
  
Kage investigated the basket and whistled. "If that's your serving for one, I'd hate to see how much you make for everyone," he said. "Have some, Shippo. You too, Sango, if you're not busy. I can't possibly eat all this by myself, it's rude."   
  
He realized that both Sango and Shippo were staring at him, and he glanced at them in turn, puzzled. "What?"   
  
"That..." Shippo said, glancing at Sango, "is really disconcerting."   
  
"I know!" Sango said, seating herself. "He's been like that since yesterday! I can't get over it!"   
  
Kage raised an eyebrow. "Hello, person you are speaking about present here," he said. Kirara leapt down from Sango's shoulder and chased her tails for a second, before deciding she needed to perch on Kage's head again. Kage sighed as the cat-demon made a nest between his ears.   
  
AND they were staring at him again, as if waiting for a reaction. When there was no apparent one, other than Kage starting in on some of the food, Shippo goggled even more.   
  
"I'm really glad you called me in on this," he told Sango. "This is, like, legendary!" He rooted around in the basket before finding something he liked and stuffing it in his mouth, easily destroying the somewhat mature presence he had been putting forth.   
  
Sango smiled. "I thought you'd be amused. Has Kaede filled you in on everything?"   
  
Kirara got up, turned around again, then curled into a ball, purring. Kage resisted the urge to shake his head violently. "Are we ignoring me?" he asked rhetorically.   
  
Shippo shook his head, more in response to Sango's query than Kage's. "'ot 'eally," he said, swallowing his mouthful. "I just got here." Shippo took another bite.   
  
"Well, in that case let me tell you what we need you to do." Sango herself reached into the basket and pulled out a rice cake. "Kage here needs some help gathering the rest of the Shikon no Tama."   
  
Shippo choked. Kage raised an eyebrow as the kitsune nearly turned a shade of blue, then managed to get the food down. "ARE YOU CRAZY?" he cried out, then rounded on Kage. "Have you gone completely mad? Do you know who has it?"   
  
"Yup." Kage chewed his own bite and swallowed calmly. "My mom's sick. Dying. There's a chance that ...getting this entire jewel together will save her. A small chance, but better than anything I've heard yet."   
  
"Your...mom?" Shippo turned to Sango.   
  
"Kagome," Sango said quietly.   
  
Shippo took a deep breath. Then he swiveled back to Kage. "Where is she? Why isn't she here?"   
  
"Y'know, that's a good question," Kage said, taking another bite. "I pr'bably should ask her." He contemplated this for a moment, while Sango and Shippo exchanged glances. Then Kage swallowed. "I don't think I will, though. She's got way too much to deal with right now. Although that does remind me, I probably should go home and at least get a few things."   
  
He stood up. "Kaede said I should be able to get back through the well, right? I should be able to go back and forth ... so I should run back now, maybe get a good night's sleep at home, reassure my uncle that I'm not roaming the streets of Tokyo at an ungodly hour ... " he thought about this for a moment. "...but I have school on Monday."   
  
Sango and Shippo were really staring at him. "You go to school?" Shippo said slowly, remember vaguely the thing that Kagome always seemed stressed over.   
  
Kage was busy doing some quick mental calculations. His mother's welfare was way more important to him than school, he didn't much get along with the people in his new district anyway. There wasn't that much that he needed to *get* from the house anyway, nothing that couldn't wait a few days. He chewed the inside of his mouth, then sat down abruptly. "Hell, that stuff can wait," he said. "I need to get used to this time, anyway, and I have no doubt that my uncle and mom are going to go ballistic on me. May as well wait until I actually deserve it, as opposed to just vanishing for half a day." He glanced at Shippo and Sango. "So...what's the plan then? How do we start this?"   
  
"Well... locating the orb would be a good start," Sango said slowly. "But, I would assume Inu..." she trailed off, a pained expression on her face. "He has it, I would think."   
  
"What about the shards? Any idea how many are left?" Kage asked.   
  
"No more than ten, and three are accounted for," Shippo said. When Kage raised an eyebrow at this he clarified. "The leader of a pack of wolf-demons has them. Don't worry... he's ... well..."   
  
Sango chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Not harmless, but he's not a bad guy, just antagonistic." She shrugged. "So we don't need to bother him until we've got the rest, and I don't doubt he'll surrender them if he hears Kagome's life is at stake."   
  
Kage glanced at her. "Well, he kind of has an... infatuation with her," Shippo said, bemused.   
  
"Or, at least, he did," Sango clarified. "I would think it holds over, even though he's likely got a litter of pups by now."   
  
"Okay, depending on "if" factors makes me nervous," Kage said.   
  
"There's not much more to go on," Sango said. "Kaede suggested that perhaps you two go on a wide-arc, maybe three or four day's travel around, to familiarize Kage with the area and to gather information. Maybe ..." Sango glanced at Kage's ears. "Maybe he'll hear about it and come to us."   
  
Shippo made a face, obviously he found that option as unappealing as Kage. "Why didn't Kaede come out to join us?" he asked Sango.   
  
"She's... resting." Sango's face grew grave. "She's getting worse, Shippo."   
  
The kitsune nodded sagely. "She's old, especially by human standards." He sighed. "I just wish ..."   
  
Sango nodded, not needing Shippo to finish his sentence. So many regrets...   
  
Kage cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um ... perhaps, then, we should get provisioned and going? The sooner we leave, the quicker we get back and I can have a row with my uncle." Kage also pointed to his head, where Kirara was very obviously asleep because one of her back paws was twitching. "And your cat is dreaming because she just drove claws into my scalp."   
  
Sango laughed at that and for the first time in a long while she felt like her old self. It was a feeling she had missed...  
  
A/N: So, chapter 3 done! Yay! More to come soon. I just finished Harry Potter and I just felt like *writing* ... whee. Expect more fun later...  
  
I dun't know what's up with FF.N. I suspect it will say "four chapters" now, although only three will be posted. Bizarre. Random factoid: story named after the song by Evansence. I'm sure everyone figured that one out. But why is it named that? That's the song that was playing when I uploaded it! XP   
  



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